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Heartbreak for Reiter in Sochi PSL Debut

by

USSA

2014-02-22 09:08

World Championships silver medalist Justin Reiter showed potential Saturday in the Olympic debut of snowboarding parallel slalom before he was disqualified in the seeding round, ending his chance for a medal at the 2014 Sochi Games. (Getty Images/Mike Ehrmann)

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Feb. 22) – World Championships silver medalist Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) showed potential Saturday in the Olympic debut of snowboarding parallel slalom before he was disqualified in the seeding round, ending his chance for a medal at the 2014 Sochi Games. Reiter narrowly missed a gate in his first seeding run and was removed from competition, where U.S. born Vic Wild went on to win his second gold medal for the Russia Federation. The event will air as a part of NBC’s Primetime Olympic coverage Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EST and can be streamed in its entirety on NBCOlympics.com.

HIGHLIGHTS

Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) showed potential Saturday in the Olympic debut of snowboarding parallel slalom before he was disqualified in the seeding round, ending his chance for a medal at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Reiter took a tight line and cut inside a gate during his first seeding run. The mistake was so minimal that Reiter did not realize it until he was in the start for his second seeding run, where he was told that he had been disqualified.

The 2013 World Snowboard Championships silver medalist was named to the Olympic Team after scoring a World Cup podium in Sudelfeld, Germany in January, but has been working toward the Olympics since childhood. Recently, Reiter prepared for the 2014 Olympic season by training, working and living out of his truck.

U.S. born Vic Wild went on to win his second gold medal for the Russia Federation. Thanks to the historic debut of parallel slalom, Wild also became the first snowboarder to ever win two gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Zan Kosir of Slovenia also took home his second medal with silver, and Benjamin Karl of Austria earned bronze.

The event will air as a part of NBC’s Primetime Olympic coverage Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EST and can be streamed in its entirety on NBCOlympics.com.

QUOTESJustin ReiterI knew I had pushed the line. I knew I wasn’t having the best run so I decided to push it a little bit. But I never thought it was a DQ in any way, shape or form.

Had I had two good results right now, I’d be singing a different tune, like ‘Yeah, it worked. Well, it didn’t work. It got me to the Olympics. I’m an Olympian … but I wasn’t able to execute on the day, on two days.

Luke Bodensteiner, Executive Vice President, Athletics U.S. Ski and Snowboard AssociationVic found a very unique opportunity with Russia in the lead up to Sochi and took advantage of it. Good for him and we respect his decision. Our organization continues to provide support to elite athletes across all sports and is proud that 17 different American skiers and snowboarders have medaled here. Our strategic focus on new events like halfpipe and slopestyle had clear athletic success for us in Sochi and are very relevant to what kids are doing at resorts around the world today.